FAMILY & CHILDREN'S MINISTRIES RESOURCES

It is our calling as a church to come beside parents and help you, pray for you, and equip you in the joyful responsibility of raising children. A few books that we recommend are:

Biblical Precepts for Marriage by Marion and Ginger Clark

This is a marriage counseling primer for couples and pastors/counselors to use in preparation for Christian marriage. It is also helpful to married couples and marriage counselors wanting to apply biblical principles in their marriage. Please go here for more information.

Family Shepherds by Voddie Baucham, Jr.

It’s hard to overestimate the importance of the family, and that of fathers in particular. We’ve heard it said, “As the family goes, so goes the nation.” But it can also be said that “as the father goes, so goes the family.” Consequently, Voddie Baucham has set out to teach men how to faithfully shepherd their families. Derived from Baucham’s monthly meetings with men in his church, Family Shepherds calls men to accountability for their God-given responsibilities in their homes. Baucham’s clear style and practical approach will spur men to protect their marriage, raise kingdom-minded children, value the synergy between church and home, and navigate difficult family dynamics. Please go here for more information.

Gospel-Powered Parenting by William P. Farley

"How can I hope to be an effective parent today when attack on the family are stronger than ever before?" The answer, says Farley, is the gospel. Parents who claim the gospel as their own have an enormous effect on their marriage, their integrity, and their love for their children. Keeping the gospel at the forefront of every aspect of marriage helps parents fear God, sensitizes them to sin, motivates them to enter their children's world, and causes them to preach the beauty of the gospel to their children through their marriage. Please go here for more information.

Parenting in the Pew by Robbie Castleman

"Daddy, I'd like you to meet my children." That's Robbie Castleman's attitude about taking her children to church. She believes that Sunday morning isn't a success if she has only managed to keep the kids quiet. And she knows there's more to church for kids than trying out their new coloring books. Children are at church for the same reason as their parents: for the privilege of worshiping God. Worship, Castleman writes, is "the most important thing you can ever train your child to do." So with infectious passion, nitty-gritty advice and a touch of humor, she shows you how to help your children (from toddlers to teenagers) enter into worship. In this significantly revised and updated edition Castleman includes a new preface and two new appendices that provide new perspectives on children's sermon and intergenerational community. She also provides a study guide for personal reflection or group discussion. More than ever, Parenting in the Pew is essential reading for parents and worship leaders who want to help children make joyful noises unto the Lord. Please go here for more information.

Relationships: A Mess Worth Making by Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp

A book about relationships, written within the context of their own friendship, Tim and Paul's new offering is straightforward about the relational disappointments that we all suffer. But they are also optimistic about the power of grace to redeem and restore our relationships. Rather than presenting new or sophisticated techniques to make relationships flourish, the authors instead focus on the basic character qualities that can only be formed in the heart by the gospel. Please go here for more information.

Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp

Written for parents with children of any age, this insightful book provides perspectives and procedures for shepherding your child's heart into the paths of life. Shepherding a Child's Heart gives fresh biblical approaches to child rearing. Please go here for more information.

Parents and children need a lot of help from the One who is perfect and who understands our need God himself. Peace and Scott emphasize your family's most important relationship: its relationship with God. Please go here for more information.

What Did You Expect? by Paul David Tripp

Somehow, someway, every marriage becomes a struggle. Everyone’s marriage morphs into something they didn’t intend it to be. At some point you need something sturdier than romance. You need something deeper than shared interests and mutual attraction. You need changed expectations, you need radical commitments, and, most importantly, you need grace. Please go here for more information.

Big Truths for Young Hearts by Bruce A. Ware

Equips parents to guide their young children through all major doctrines in an understandable, chapter-a-day format.
Sure, it's easy to teach your children the essentials of Christian theology when you're a theology professor. But what about the rest of us?
With Big Truths for Young Hearts, Bruce Ware, (you guessed it!) a theology professor, encourages and enables parents of children 6-14 years of age to teach through the whole of systematic theology at a level their children can understand. Parents can teach their children the great truths of the faith and shape their worldviews early, based on these truths.

The book covers ten topics of systematic theology, devoting several brief chapters to each subject, making it possible for parents to read one chapter per day with their children. With this non-intimidating format, parents will be emboldened to be their children's primary faith trainers-and perhaps learn a few things themselves along the way. Please go here for more information.

The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones

The Moonbeam Award Gold Medal Winner in the religion category, The Jesus Storybook Bible tells the Story beneath all the stories in the Bible. At the center of the Story is a baby, the child upon whom everything will depend. Every story whispers his name. From Noah to Moses to the great King David---every story points to him. He is like the missing piece in a puzzle---the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together. From the Old Testament through the New Testament, as the Story unfolds, children will pick up the clues and piece together the puzzle. A Bible like no other, The Jesus Storybook Bible invites children to join in the greatest of all adventures, to discover for themselves that Jesus is at the center of God's great story of salvation---and at the center of their Story too. Please go here for more information.

For more information please contact the Children's Ministry Director Rachel Bellefeuille at rachel.belfay@lopc-pca.org. To download this information, please go here.